Megaman X: What If
by DuffZero
Summary: What would happen if a certain female Repliforce member decided to act differently at the events that took place near the end of Megaman X4?  This What If story takes place at just that point, and continues the Megaman X story with this new time line.
1. Chapter 1

Megaman X: What If

By: DuffZero

Prologue:

The Long Ride Home

An eternity passed as the small spaceship flew away from the destroyed Final Weapon. Zero, sitting in the copilot seat next to his best friend, stared at the dented saber in his hands. Was it all true? All those things Sigma said in the end? He knew it to be, but he just couldn't accept it, not yet anyway. He turned to look at X. With the ship on a slow but steady autopilot setting for Earth, X was left starring blankly straight ahead out the window with nothing to do but think. He looked wholly unsatisfied, which was to be expected. Double, who X had put a lot of faith in, turned out to be a double agent and betrayed the Maverick Hunters, leaving X no choice but to kill him. Not to mention that the Repliforce, which was entirely annihilated, turned out to have been used by Sigma. Zero, however, was not able to give his friend the peace of mind he so desperately wanted.

"X." The blue reploid jolted slightly, surprised by the break in silence, but turned his head to look at Zero.

"X… I need to ask you a favor. I've been thinking about what Sigma said and I need you to promise me…"

"No." X interjected, knowing what was coming. "We can't take anything that Sigma says at face value. He's simply trying to plant seeds of doubt into you."

Zero shook his head. "Hear me out X." X's shoulders tensed. He knew Zero well enough to know that there was no point in trying to stop him a second time. "Promise me X. If I go Maverick and insanity clouds my mind, kill me. Pull the trigger before I sully my good name." A small smirk appeared on his mouth as he said this, but it left just as quickly as it appeared. X continued to stare at his friend, not saying anything.

Silence once again took over the small ship. X didn't turn back to his own thoughts yet, as his crimson friend looked like he had more to say. It struck him as odd, Zero was never one to hesitate, but then it hit him and a small smile crept on to his face. Cringing, knowing that X had figured him out, Zero finally opened his mouth again. "If that does happen… I'm counting on you to…"

He stopped. He turned his head away from X, and to the back of the ship. There, was the subject he had trouble breaching, even with his best friend. He looked at the unconscious reploid, her long brown hair spilling onto the floor of the ship. She was breathing softly and her face looked peaceful, even after the horrible ordeal she had endured. The lone Repliforce survivor.

"X. If something happens to me, please, take care of Iris."

X's smile grew. He patted his friend on his shoulder armor. "That is a promise I can keep." He turned to look at Iris as well, and whistled, a bit of his good humor coming back to him with the change of subjects. "She sure is cute, huh? Can't believe your luck, I get stuck working with a traitorous asshole and you get to sit around and make small talk with a cutie." He sighed, turning away from Iris and rubbing the back of his helmet. "Wish I had a cute girl like that back at base, but eh, whatcha gonna do?"

Zero's mood didn't change as quickly as X's did. Still looking at Iris, he sighed. She went through a lot in the hours that just passed, and he still couldn't believe how many things had happened on the Final Weapon. The amount of pain she must have endured and still trudged forward, the pain he cause, he knew they wouldn't go away. In his head, he began to relive what had past only a few hours ago…

They rushed forward through the huge halls of the Final Weapon, destroying all the automated defense turrets that blocked their path, X shooting quickly and Zero slicing whatever X missed. As the duo ran forward, Zero struggled to shake the guilt of having killed Colonel and the fear of what happened to Iris, who disappeared from base when Zero returned from his fated mission. X was struggling with a somewhat similar dilemma, having been unable to get into contact with his recent friend, Double.

"Shit X, where could they have gone!" The two stopped a moment, analyzing how far they've made it into the beast and which path best to take. X looked around, responding to his friend. "I haven't the faintest. But hey, good buddy, they most certainly… aren't… here… oh goddamn it…" As if on cue, X caught the back of a big yellow plated reploid waddling down and disappearing into one of the two paths ahead of them. X dashed ahead of Zero towards the entrance, turning only to yell at his friend.

"No reason in the both of us going down one path! I'll take this one, you take the one across the way!" And just like that, Zero was alone.

Only a little more leisurely then when with X, Zero continued deeper into the Final Weapon. Only a few turrets blocked his path, easily rendered useless with his Z-Saber. Childs play, he thought to himself, but then, as if taunting him for thinking things were too easy, he saw someone in front that made his robotic heart start to burn.

There she was. Her emerald eyes that looked at him so many times before seemed more determined then ever before, but also held unbearable sadness. Her blue, red, and gold dress seemed to sway in an invisible breeze. Her beret sat on her head as always, a fact he didn't know why he deemed necessary to check in his head. He ran towards her, and a strange emotion started to tug at him, one that wanted him to put down his sword, hug her, and simply weep, begging for forgiveness for what he had done. Zero, however, still mostly new to emotions outside strategy and the battlefield, knew not to act on this. Before he could get within arms reach, Iris spoke, and it slowed Zero to a stop.

"Zero, why? Why did you kill my brother?"

Zero flinched. He knew it was coming. He knew it had to. How could she not ask? But it still hurt like hell. He didn't know what to say. He stood there a moment. Her eyes stared holes into him, and despite himself, he couldn't keep eye contact with her.

"Iris… I had to… I'm so sorry…"

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?" Venom. He could feel it.

"I wish there had been another way. I wanted to save him. I wanted to Iris! Please, forgive my weakness." He looked down. He didn't know what else to do. He knew it wasn't enough.

Iris continued to stare at him. Then, she started moving. He didn't dare look up yet. She walked closer to him, stiffly.

"I… wanted to kill you for what you did. Thoughts of vengeance ran through my head when I saw the pictures of my…" She swallowed hard. "… brother. But I knew… I know… that wasn't right. He died on his own terms…" Zero looked up at her, and noticed her face had softened and was now moistened by a stream of tears. She looked up at him through blurry vision. "I know it's not your fault. I'm sorry for forcing you to apologize for something that wasn't really your fault. But I… had to hear it from you. I had to hear you apologize… for my own selfish reasons… to know he meant something to you too…"

Suddenly she was swept into his arms. She uttered a little squeak of surprise at first, but then rested into his chest. Tears fell from both their faces, as silent understanding a moment of silence for the death of her brother and friend was shared. Their embrace, however, could not be held for long, and they broke apart.

Zero, relaxing, now knowing that Iris was safe and had, in her own way, forgiven him, suddenly had a wave of questions fill his head for the girl. He knew there wasn't much time, so he asked only what he thought was most important.

"Iris… what are you doing here anyway? When I got back from… that mission you were gone." While Zero asked this, Iris wiped the moist tears off her face with her hands and had moved forward to do the same to Zero, but stopped for a moment at this question, pondering if she should answer it. She nodded to herself, and continued to wipe Zero's face, who continued to stare.

"To be honest, I came here to extract my revenge on you." She gulped, and expected Zero to have some form of negative reaction, but the crimson warrior simply continued to stare at her. "I… well I… I took this from my brother's body…" She pulled something out of one of her pockets, and Zero didn't immediately know exactly what it was. Then it hit him

"You were going to fuse with your brothers control chip so you'd gain your own abilities in battle…" She looked down, ashamed, her face turning red. She glanced up once again expecting Zero to scowl at her, but his face was one of wonderment. Suddenly, he moved towards her, and put his forehead against hers a smile on his face. She grimaced at first, but tried to hide it. She didn't want to ruin such a perfect moment just because Zero wasn't thinking about his cold helmet on the bare skin of her head. She didn't even want to think how furiously she was blushing. "To admit so much to me after all that's happened and what I've did… you are one amazing woman Iris. I promise you, I will protect you from now on. My sword is your shield." She could have sworn he was going to kiss her right there, but he didn't, he lingered for a moment, helmet still on her head, and then finally pulled back. As if a switch was turned, and with a new fire lit inside him, Zero turned to where Iris was first standing and started walking.

Iris took a few seconds to regain her composure and her normal facial color. She was embarrassed at how quickly Zero turned her back into a bashful girl, but remembered what almost became of her when she looked at her brothers control chip in her hands. "Uh… Zero." She trotted to catch up to him then met his walking pace. "After I decided that getting vengeance was wrong, I started looking for a way to disable the Final Weapon on the terminals over there." She pointed to a few computers near the way around where she was originally standing. "Once the countdown reaches a certain point, the Final Weapon can't be stopped unless you self destruct it." As she said that, she tightened her clutch on her brothers control chip. Zero stopped walking and turned towards her. "So, what are you going to do with that?" He pointed towards the control chip. "Are you going to use it still?" She hesitated, and then responded. "No, it would change me. I don't want that. I want to give this thing a proper home, buried where Repliforce began." She clutched the chip for another moment, as if to gain strength from her deceased brother, and then put it back into her pocket. Zero nodded. "So where should I go now to make sure the countdown doesn't even begin?" Iris looked down the hall, where her back was originally turned when Zero entered. She pointed, "That's the way to the master terminal, and where the General is located. He is the only one who can start this thing up."

Zero nodded, taking it all in. "Alright, I'm sure X is on his way there already, and I'm not one to leave a friend hanging. Iris." He grabbed her shoulders, a chill ran down her spine and a little splash of red hit her face thanks to the sensation. "I need you to go back where I came. There is a small ship X and I got here on. Go there and wait for us. If you don't hear anything from us in an hour, I want you to escape."

Iris looked into Zero's eyes, tears starting to form. "No! I can't leave you alone here! Not after all this…" Zero squeezed her shoulders and she flinched from the sudden pain, but he relaxed immediately. "I can't risk you getting hurt Iris. Please understand." For a second, she thought, there was nothing she could do and she'd have to oblige. Then, she realized something. "No! I'm coming with you! I'm Repliforce after all; I can access places and files you can't! How do you think I got this far after all!"

Zero stared at her for a second, then released his grip on her shoulders and scratched his head, biting down on his lip. "Guess I have no choice then. Come on then, we can't leave X waiting!" He then turned and burst into a sprint down the hall.

Iris, surprised at how easy he was to convince, watched as he ran off with a shocked look on her face. "Hey! Change your mind already!" Iris puffed her cheeks a second, a natural response she didn't even realized she did, and started running after Zero.

And so, an alternate timeline is born. Every action that one makes can drastically change the future for the individual as well as all those surrounding him/her. In this timeline, Iris has made one of those decisions, deciding that it is not worth losing oneself to vengeance, and thus has created an alternate timeline to the one we all know. Escaping her dark fate, Iris is able to continue her adventures with Zero, and will travel farther down the chronicles of Megaman X. How far will she go? Will her presence change anything at all? The story continues…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1:

Sweet Forgotten Memories

It didn't take long for the pair to reach the center of the Final Weapon. It was an odd sight to see, a long and inviting red carpet leading to an incredibly large chair, all surrounded by nothing but large fans and wires. Sitting on the throne sat the leader of the Repliforce, a huge, gold and blue reploid with a sharp looking mustache. Only his eyes moved slightly, following the pair slowly approach his throne. He began to stare at deceased friends sister and his eyes softened momentarily, but he caught himself, and rose from his seat.

"Iris." He noticed her flinch upon hearing her name. _To think… even my own people, no, my best friends sister, afraid to hear me even utter her name. _He continued, "I'm sorry for your loss. But you must know, he died an honorable death, one that you should be proud of."

Zero took one quick step forward with a look of one who was about to say something, but Iris broke in before he could. "No General! It… it shouldn't have been this way… you know it in your heart, the entire Repliforce was annihilated because of your foolish pride!" General simply froze at this, showing no emotion, and simply let out a sigh. Zero however, looked dejected, staring at Iris. "My brother… he… he…"

She looked over at Zero. _Kill him. He is nothing but a murderer! _Shaking her head, she turned back to General. " He was… killed, and for what? He was stolen from me by the Repliforce's pride!"

"Enough!" General took a step forward, drawing a giant broadsword from his belt. "I will not listen to you disgracing your brothers end. All those who died for the Repliforce were honorable soldiers who fought for their independence!" He pointed his huge broadsword at Zero. "Let this battle determine the fate of the Repliforce! I will not let my comrades death be in vain!"

Zero, drawing his saber with one hand and ushering Iris behind him with the other, finally spoke. "General, the fate of the Repliforce has already been determined. You've lost. You have no army left. It's only you and Iris now, there is no reason to cut that number in half."

General simply shook his head. "I'm sorry Zero… but there is no other way." And with this, the battle to determine the fate of the Repliforce began.

Iris watched as the two danced around each other, amazed at how quick General was. She had never witnessed General fight, seeing him only command his troops, and could never imagine a reploid of his size being able to match the speed of a human sized reploid such as Zero. The fight seemed horribly one sided, every time Zero lunged forward, he was quickly parried by General's large broadsword, and was thrown back. She watched the whole fight with one hand in a fist over her chest, and another clutching the final piece in her pocket connecting her to her brother.

The fight raged on, Zero on the offense, and General deflecting every blow. Finally, with a great swing, General pushed away one of Zero's attacks throwing him straight into a fan. Not allowing himself to stay down for more then a second, Zero was back up charging straight at General, but was instead intercepted half way by General's great broad sword.

"Shit!" Jumping back just in time to avoid being split down the middle, he was able to stay on his feet sliding backwards to the fan he damaged. Looking, he noticed General was still standing back, and figuring he was now unarmed after throwing his sword for a final blow, Zero was shocked to learn how right he was! There stood General down the hall, literally without his arms! They floated in front of him, holding his great weapon.

"I think it's time we end this Zero!"

Iris, horrified by what she was seeing, had moved her free hand over her mouth. Zero was now completely on the defensive, unable to progress forward towards General, avoiding and swatting away the giant swords best he could with his saber. She was torn, she wanted to help the one she loved, but she didn't know how. And even worse, there was something else she felt…

It was looking grim for the crimson warrior. Pushed back against the wall, he took a few hits from the massive sword, but kept them from being critical. Timing was everything, and when he knew General was going for one of his final blows, he turned off his saber… and slammed his fist into the ground, releasing some of his energy into a small explosion around him.

"Ha ha ha! Zero, you must not be this foolish, such a move like that could not damage me, let alone my hands!" However, as the dust settled, he noticed only a few seconds too late that Zero was no longer there, and with the sound of a saber igniting, he realized all too late the folly of his mistake.

Iris gasped, and General closed his eyes, accepting his fate, his arms too far to form any counterattack as the saber that tasted so many of his comrades came towards his own neck. However, his end didn't come, and without any warning the entire room began to shake violently, throwing Zero off course, instead creating a giant gash through the general abdomen.

"No, how could this be!" Coughing suddenly, blood coming out of both his abdomen and mouth, he sunk to his knees. Iris ran over to him, and Zero simply stood where he was, looking around him trying to assess what was going on. Iris spoke to him "General, what's going on?"

"I can tell you exactly what has happened, my dear. This weapon has finally been activated. Can you not feel it? Can you not already hear the cries of those who feel its wrath! I, for one, cannot wait!"

It was not the General's voice. It was a voice Zero knew very well at this point. He turned to its source, and there walked a hooded figure, the only facial feature that could be seen were his glowing eyes. Iris' hands went straight over her mouth and she started to back away, past the now unconscious General, and the hooded figure. Zero, was quick to jump into the gap.

"Sigma!" The hatred in his voice was almost as powerful as his blade. Clenching one fist, he pointed at Sigma with his other hand. "It was you! You son of a bitch! You planned it all didn't you!"

"My dear old friend, but of course. The Repliforce were nothing but a bunch of war mongering fools who simply needed someone to fight. I just helped them find an excuse."

"That's not true! All we wanted to do was protect the innocent!" Iris yelled running up right behind Zero. Sigma simply chuckled at this.

"Protect? Is that what you call what you were planning to do to Zero before?" Only a little gasp came out of Iris mouth at this. Zero, however, was unaffected by his words "Killing someone who killed out of self defense… not being very protective is it, my dear? Though to tell you the truth though, you'd be doing the world a bit of good. Getting rid of a Maverick such as him!"

This time Zero was affected by Sigma's words. Flashes of piles upon piles of corpses in front of him, disemboweled organs in his hands as he laughed watching his victim struggle in pain, and shady figure in a lab coat telling him to destroy all swarmed his head. He clutched his head with both his hands shaking, and Iris quickly moved from behind him to his side trying to calm him, but got pushed to the floor instead as Zero flailed around. "What is this? What have you done to me Sigma!"

"Oh, what have I done to you? Why do _you_ ask _me_ that? Don't you remember what _you _did to me?"

Sigma grabbed a hold of the front of his cloak and threw it behind him, revealing his face as well as his purple body armor. He pointed at the two scars on his eyes. "Don't you remember when you fought me all those years ago, and you tried to kill me! I was left with these horrible scars that could never be fixed, and have followed me with each and every form I've taken since!"

Zero, holding his head in pain took a few steps forward towards Sigma. Mumbling, he said "No… but I… I've never directly fought you… it was always X…" Iris got up and tried to stop him from walking any further forward, but was this time more harshly thrown backwards on the floor again. "Zero…" She found herself once again grasping her brother's memory…

"I'm hurt, old friend. You don't remember our fight? It was the first time I ever fought someone of equal strength. In fact, I probably would be dead right now if you hadn't stopped fighting and opted to hold your head and whine…" He smirked. " Kind of like what you're doing right now!"

Laughing, to himself, he began to walk towards forward. "You… bastard…" Zero managed, still fighting the memories in his head, unable to resist. To his surprise, Sigma walked right by him, to the girl still on the floor.

Her heart started beating faster as the man approached. With his scythe in his hand, she was almost sure it was the end, and clutched her brothers control chip harder then before. To her surprise, Sigma did not bring the scythe down on her, but simple kneeled in front of her and offered his hand.

"My dear, I'm most disappointed in you. For someone who has lost so much to that horrible red maverick, I thought you would have done what was right and avenged your brother's death. Come now. Take my hand. I'll bring you down the path the Repliforce tried to travel."

"R… revenge…" Sigma's voice and the voices she had been hearing since she heard of her brother's death began to merge. She was quickly loosing her control. The control chip in her hands began to glow. She found herself reaching a hand toward Sigma, accepting his offer…

"No!" She threw her hand back. "I… I can't… how could I… kill…" She started crawling back away from Sigma. "How could you poison my thoughts with those words? I won't… I can't…"

Sigma frowned, and withdrew his hand. "I'm sorry to hear that. Well, it's no matter; I suppose it's just as poetic for it to happen this way." He chuckled. "And I'm sure the blood will awaken that darkness that is so struggling to get out."

Sigma lifted himself up, and slowly walked towards Zero, who had calmed down somewhat, but was in no way able to defend himself. He grabbed Zero by the neck, carried him in front of Iris, and threw him on his knees. Taking his scythe, he placed the sharp edge across Zero's throat and smiled. "Enjoy the crimson shower, my dear!"

She was ashamed of herself for being unable to do anything. She didn't even scream, just looked, teary eyed, as the one whom she loved was about to be brutally murdered. All the thoughts of vengeance were gone at this moment, only making it all the more agonizing. She swallowed hard… but the moment never came.

A huge blast of energy came flying by, hitting Sigma and throwing him a few feet away from the crimson warrior. He fell forward, with only a little nick on his neck from the scythe and Iris scrambled to get up and run to his side. She cradled him in her arms, and allowed his head to fall on her lap, tears now flowing freely. Zero, finally regaining control of himself, looked up at her, and a small smile came on his lips. "Iris… hi." She smiled back at him, tears flowing. "Hello Zero. I… thought I lost you for a moment there. I… though I lost myself for a moment there." Allowing Iris to help him up, he swaggered a little, and saw what had saved him.

A blue blur came charging down the hall screaming. "Sigma! You goddamn son of a bitch! Setting Double up against me, then making me fight eight _fucking_ soulless copies of the Repliforce, just to mock those who you tricked!"

X slid and stopped himself next to Iris and Zero. He looked a little worse for the wear, but it didn't look like anything could slow him down right now. Based off his reaction, Zero safely assumed that X was up to speed with Sigma's plan. Well, at least as far as the Repliforce goes, he doubted Double, if he was the one to have spilled the beans to X, had known anything about Sigma's past encounter with Zero.

Looking around and not seeing Sigma, X turned to Zero, looked him up and down, and gave him a little nod. "You were about to get executed there man, what the hell were you doing?" Without giving his friend time to answer, He then turned to Iris, and back to Zero. "Looks like your cute friend is ok. My fat friend… well turned out his name was a big hint to what he actually was. I had no choice, I had to take care of him." He sighed and began to glance around the room, clearly looking for Sigma again.

"Look X… there's something I have tell you…" He knew time was dire, but he had to let X know what Sigma said, and why he was in the situation he was in. Iris started to protest, but Zero gave her a glance with a hint of sadness in his eyes and she stopped. X, stopped looking for a second, which Zero could tell was hard for him since he was still a bit antsy, and turned towards Zero. "Sigma made me remember a few things… he made me remember… that I was once a Maverick…"

X stared at Zero, his eyes narrowed. "And you believed him? He's a manipulator, look at the situation we're in now!" "Hell, I know X, he may be right. I've been having what I thought were just nightmares for some time now, but they may have been more then that. I just don't know."

Before X could respond, a computerized voice rang throughout the halls. "T-minus ten minutes till weapon fired. Target, Earth."

"Wait, shit! We've only got ten minutes left!" X started whipping around frantically looking for a console, but with a swear of surprise was only met with General's giant body which he had somehow completely missed before. Suddenly, Sigma's laugh could be heard booming through the halls.

"X! While I don't appreciate the way you said hello to me a few minutes ago, I am glad you are hear to watch Earth's finale! And what a nice little group you have to watch it with! I would love to be there with you, but I have other things I must attend to, and have integrated myself with this weapon system to ensure you can't stop it. So just sit back, enjoy the ride, and I will be seeing you sometime soon! Just… not on Earth!" X gritted his teeth to the point where it seemed as though he was going to snap a tooth. Zero went deep in thought, forgetting Sigma's previous heckling and trying to figure out a way to stop the Final Weapon despite Sigma's claims.

"I… think I could find a way." The pair of warriors looked up, surprised by the little voice, and turned to Iris. She put both her hands together in front of her nervously, and said "When I was helping Zero before I was able to hack a lot of doors open… the core should be near by, I could probably get us in there…"

X slammed a fist into an open palm. "And we can just destroy the generator! Great!"

"Time is limited, so lets move quick!" Zero shouted, and the trio ran to the doors past Generals great throne.

And it was in the next door that the main generator lay, the source of all the Final Weapons energy. By the time Iris was able to hack her way through the door leading to it, they only had five minutes left.

"Well, here goes nothing!" Aiming his blaster and allowing himself a few seconds to concentrate, he let out a huge barrage of shots towards the generator glowing in the center of the room. Zero, drawing his saber, put a few slashes into the generator following X's barrage, but their efforts only slightly damaged the core. Iris remained by a console, reading the damage, and telling them which section of generator to hit next.

"X, this is our last shot, don't slow down!" His blue friend nodded without turning to Zero, and continued to fire. The place rapidly began to collapse on itself, but it wasn't going quite as quick as they hopped, and then, all hope seemed lost when an old friend decided to intervene.

"Well well well, couldn't just sit and enjoy the show?" He materialized off the wall, a mess of wires holding together some armor, but with two things that stood out, a giant blaster arm, and Sigma's distinct head.

He began to shoot rapidly, laughing all the while, forcing both X and Zero to cease their attack and dodge. Both turned and aimed their next attack at Sigma, but he simply dematerialized and then started anew on another wall.

"Guys! Only two minutes left!" "Shit! Shit! SHIT!" "This isn't good, just can't get him!"

Then, the last hope appeared. With only one armed re-attached, General did not look like he was going to be of much help. But he had the air of a proud leader who could accomplish anything, and he was ready to make a final sacrifice. The battle seemed to stop temporarily, all eyes, even Sigma's were on him.

"X… Zero… leave this place. Leave it right now. I will make sure this weapon doesn't go off. I swear to you, on the honor of the Repliforce." He turned to Iris. "And you, my best friend's little sister, you are now the last of our kind. Remember what it means to be Repliforce!"

Both X and Zero dashed back to Iris who was still near the console typing, when Sigma, done watching, materialized on the console. Iris screamed, both X and Zero aimed their respective weapons at him, but it was General who would react first turning away from the generator, and with his one good arm, grabbing Sigma and pulling him off the console. The explosion that followed such a rough act threw the three perfectly out the door and back into the throne room. Iris, being the lightest and with the least amount of armor, got thrown the farthest and knocked unconscious. Zero, saw one last glimpse of General, still holding Sigma in his hand, and somehow heard him say softly, "Goodbye."

"General! No General!" He screamed, but he knew there was no other choice. X was quickly by his side. "Only got a minute to get out of here! There was a cargo ship just a little bit down the ways where I came from! Scoop up Iris and lets get out of here!" And after picking up Iris, they ran towards the end of the nightmare.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2:

The Days that Followed

There he stood, perfectly still, his purple bladed saber being used as a cane. His white armor was shining in the sunlight that spread across the familiar plains outside the Repliforce base. The relief in her heart brought tears to her eyes, and she ran towards him, yelling his name between sobs. He turned to her, and as she got closer he smiled, withdrawing his saber and attaching it to his hip armor. He extended his arms when she got close enough, and she jumped into them.

"I've missed you so much, my brother…" She nestled her head into his chest, and squeezed him harder. "Now that you're here, I know everything will be ok… right?"

She looked up at him, the smile didn't fade, but his eyes seemed to sadden. He only shook his head. She squeezed him harder, convincing herself that as long as she held him tight, he wouldn't leave her again. The tears began to flow again, and she shoved her face back into his chest not allowing what she was slowly begging to realize to sink in.

After a few moments, she felt the arms that were holding her began to loosen. Feeling a slight pinch on her stomach, she pulled back and saw something green sticking out of the white armor. She looked up, and was horrified by what she saw.

Under her brothers black hat was no longer the face she loved dearly, it was that of a skull! She fell back, landing hard on the floor. She saw behind her brother's corpse, a shadowy figure with flowing hair whipping in the wind. The green object protruding moved slightly, and controlling it from behind, the shadowy figure pushed the corpse forward, on top of her.

She screamed. She tried to push him off, but he was just too heavy. She couldn't take it anymore, she felt like her mind was about to snap. Then, as a final hit, the skull moved slowly, and with it's empty sockets stared right at her. She fought harder to get it off of her, but her brother's old armor just felt to heavy, and it began to mouth something. _Forgive him._ _He is my friend. He…_ The voice that sounded as though it were in her head stopped abruptly, then suddenly it burst into a purple flame, the sockets began to glow red, and a crack formed both above and bellow the glowing sockets. _No! You must extract your revenge! _She began to wail uncontrollably, struggling to break herself free. Suddenly, she started to hear a strange beeping sound. It sounded rhythmic…

-/-

She jolted up. Sweating, she wiped her head with her arm, and looked down at the white sheets that were covering half her body. The bed, as well as the room, was completely unfamiliar to her. Seeing the sun beam in through the large window and feeling the light breeze, however, helped calm her quite a bit. Thinking for a moment, she tried hard to remember what she had just dreamt about, and she began to focus in on the beeping sound that had woken her. It was then that she saw the wires attached to her bare chest.

"Wait… what… WAAAHHH!" Looking down at herself, she was wearing a very revealing medical gown. Her cheeks filled with blood for no one in particular to see, and she looked around the room for any sign of her normal clothes. Seeing them on the other side of the room, she yanked off the wires from her chest, resulting in the rhythmic sound turning into one long horrible beep. Feeling a little wobbly, but otherwise fine, she threw her clothes back on, quickly checking to see if her brothers core was still in its pocket, and then adjusting her hat. All just in time too, as she heard a door open, and in walked a white and green armored reploid with a stern face and what looked like a stethoscope attached to his helmet.

"Ah, I see you've finally awoken… Iris, was it? I apologize for not being here, but I've had to spread myself very thin across many shells, and good help is just entirely too hard to find these days." He took a few steps forward, and Iris instinctively took equal back, closer to the window.

"How do you know my name? What… is this place? Where are we?" She sputtered out questions. He looked at her for a moment, his face unchanged.

"I was told your name when you were brought here. This is the infirmary, but I would have thought that would have been fairly obvious. We are in the medical wing of the Maverick Hunter base." He stopped for a moment, and then continued. "You suffered only a small concussion, no permanent damage."

"Concussion…" She tilted her head for a moment, and then all that had happened before everything went to black hit her. "Oh no… General…" She lowered her head, and wiped the tears that started to form at the corners of her eyes. The green reploid walked towards her, and pulled the small stethoscope still attached to his helmet by a thick tube and placed it on her chest. Jolting her out of her sad thoughts, she squeaked in slight protest thanks to where he was touching, but he remained stone faced for half a minute. He let go, letting the stethoscope retract back into his helmet.

"Everything seems normal. I'd rest for the next few days, but aside from that, you are perfectly healthy." He turned and started to leave the room. She sighed, hesitated for a moment, but opened her mouth before he left the room.

"Thank you doctor… uh…"

"Lifesaver. I was given a very literal name." And with that he left the room.

It took her a moment to stop staring at the empty space beyond the door. "Geez, what do I do now?" She really didn't know the Maverick Hunter base all that well, only the main command center area since that's where she worked as a navigator twice, once for X and Zero during a strange incident involving souls of reploids getting stolen, and more recently just for Zero. She sighed loudly, pulled up the chair that held all her clothes before right next to the window, and allowed the sun shining on her to help brighten her spirits while she wondered what Zero was up to now.

-/-

"You know, most of the hunters are clamoring for you to take control of the hunters X." Douglas, a green and brown reploid wearing goggles over his eyes, stated this with a small smile and a wink while he touched up X's armor, X still in it, standing in his laboratory.

"Horse shit. You know I can't do that. I'm a mission man, if I take over, I'd be sitting around with a thumb up my ass all day. I'd go crazy! I mean, at least I could catch up on my reading, and maybe pick up a new hobby, but ultimately I'd go stir crazy. Oh, and did I mention I hate politics?"

"I just can't believe he up and left like that. And not a single word to anyone? Spineless." Zero made a tch sound after, while remaining with his arms folded leaning on one of Douglas' many workbenches waiting his turn to get his armor looking just a little more presentable.

"Yep, right after your quick transmission X, he ups and disappears. All that was found a few minutes later was a note signed and stating his resignation. I guess the guilt of starting a war against an entirely innocent army was too much for him. Or he's just too afraid to deal with the political aftermath." As he finished his statement, he hammered one last dent out of X's armor and ushered him off. Turning to Zero, he waved him to where X was standing and took out his blowtorch. "Alright Zero, stay perfectly still and this'll be over in a jiffy!"

-/-

Dr. Cain stood in his office at the very top of the center of hunter base. He rubbed the top of his perfectly bald head, staring out his huge window. He found himself wondering how all the buildings surrounding him had been completely unharmed during the conflict that claimed so many lives. So many rooms would now be left empty in the residential area of Maverick Hunter Base...

He began to cough. Hard. A now frequent activity of his. He struggled over to his seat over his desk, and leaned back, allowing himself to settle down and get his thoughts back together after his little fit.

"And can't forget the Repliforce… an entire army, gone, in the blink of an eye." Speaking to no one in particular, he leaned over his desk, and grabbed a large pad from atop a pile of scattered papers. He looked it over, recognizing all too many of the names of those who had their journeys cut tragically short, and began to stroke his long white beard.

Suddenly, the door to his office burst open, and in walked a blue reploid he knew better then any of the others. Putting two fingers to his helmet and offering a quick salute with them, the reploid took a seat on the opposite side of Dr. Cain's desk, folded his arms, and put one leg over his knee.

"Come now X, what did I tell you about knocking?" Dr. Cain smiled despite himself. He knew X had a bit of a roller coaster personality, which ended up being both a blessing and a curse. It was just this that made him incredibly human though, something that Dr. Cain was most impressed with when he first found him in a broken down old warehouse underground. Thanks to X, he was able to create an entirely new world, one where there was a new life form, one nearly hundred percent identical to humans, but different. The reploid. And then, from that same pool, create human-like animal reploids, which was more of …

"So what do ya need Doc?" X said, snapping Dr. Cain out of one his dangerously long thought cycles. X shifted, getting himself good and comfortable.

"Well, X, we've got a lot to discuss about what's to be done now. I, of course, thank you for winning this war for our world, but unfortunately, I doubt there will be any pomp and circumstance this time around." He leaned forward, placing his hands within each other and looked directly at X with a grim face. "As you no doubt already know, the leader of the Maverick Hunters has resigned. However, more importantly, I need to…"

X interrupted. "Sorry, but nope, I don't want the position."

"Good." Dr. Cain didn't seem too bothered and continued. "I need you to help teach an entirely new wave of hunters."

"What!" X put his foot down, and both his hands came down on his knees. "I'm not really good at teaching ya know."

"I apologize X, but we really do need more man power. This last war… we've never lost so many. Not even our first war against Sigma left us with so many casualties. I'm going to ask Zero as well to help teach his style of fighting to new recruits."

"Hm." X leaned himself back into his chair, and changed the subject. "So, what are your plans for our now empty leadership position. I can tell you right now Zero isn't going to want it either."

"Oh, I have an idea." He picked up a paper from his desk, and slid it towards X. X leaned forward, grabbing it off the table, and took a good long look at the decorated black armored reploid wearing a very respectable black and gold hat. "He's proven to be quite the tactician, having the lowest percentage of casualties during his operations, and commanding the respect of all those who serve under him."

-/-

Zero entered the infirmary wing of Hunter base, looking to see how Iris was doing. Approaching the front counter, he was greeted by a purple haired nurse reploid, who pointed him way towards the back, and gave him her room number. As he approached the room, Zero found himself a bit hesitant to enter. Perhaps it was fear that she might have suffered permanent damage, or it was just that he didn't know what he was going to say, but either way, it took him a moment to compose himself. His warriors pride didn't let it get the best of him though, and he walked forward. What he saw however, he would never have been ready for.

There she sat, staring out the window. She had one elbow on the windowsill, using her hand to prop her head up, as the wind blew her free hair in gentle waves. Her beret lay on the bed to the side of the room, most likely unable to withstand the breeze, as well as her hair band. It appeared as though the sun was perfectly shining just on her. She looked like that of an angel.

He had no words. He simply took in the sight for a few moments. Seeing her had always seemed to have a calming effect on him, but this time it was different. This time, everything else cleared from his head except what he was seeing right now. Sigma ceased to matter. Yes, even the horrible fight with Colonel disappeared. He wanted nothing more then to have this moment of pure peace last forever…

Iris, only now noticing she had a visitor, turned her head slowly towards Zero. She smiled softly at him. "Hello, Zero." Her hair retaliated at her change of direction, now blowing into her face, so she directed it towards one side and held it with one hand on the side of her head. Her eyes, so soft and beautiful, let Zero closer to her.

"Hey… Iris." He walked in front of her, stopped, and after starring awkwardly into her eyes for a few moments continued his movement to her side, and faced out the window. She followed his movement, holding her small smile, and then turned back to looking out the window. Neither, at this moment, were effected by the past events. The wind blew both their hair back, and the sun purified their thoughts.

"So… how are you feeling?" Zero broke the silence, but kept the brunette out of his view. He didn't want to loose himself in her eyes again, so he concentrated on the outdoors, but the combination of distinct outdoor smell brought by the breeze and her natural scent was strangely intoxicating.

"I'm fine. Are…" She hesitated for a moment, looking at him. He looked as though his armor had been completely repaired. Looking down, she realized her clothes must have been both washed and repaired while she was out too. She continued, regardless. "Are you ok?"

"You don't have to worry about me." They fell back into silence. They stayed that way for quite some time, until the sun began to fall beneath their view.

"Hey, Zero." She broke the silence this time. "I have a favor to ask."

This time, Zero turned and met her eyes. They were still soft, looking right up at him, with a small hopeful smile on her face. "Yes? What is it?"

"Can we… go to the Repliforce base? I want to give this…" She pulled out her brother's chip. Zero flinched at the sight of it, as the memories of what he did hit him again. "a proper burial."

"I will see what I can do." He turned, and headed for the door.

"Zero?"

"It's time for you to lay back down and get some rest, ok? By noon tomorrow I should be able to get us a transport over there."

Iris got up, and turned toward Zero, who was now nearing the door. "Zero." He turned. He hair was now whipping violently in front of her, the nice day breeze turning into a sharp windy night, but through her hair he could see a soft smile. His heart skipped a beat. "Thank you."

-/-

True to his word, Zero was able to secure one of the hunter security cars for their trip. Not exactly riding in style, but reliable, he was happy not having to force Iris on one of the many motorcycles the hunters used for many of their operations. Together, the pair drove their way down relatively empty highways for about an hour before they reached their destination. Iris sat in silence, perhaps afraid of what she was going to see, playing with her long hair that she let drape forwards.

To Zero's relief, save for a few blood steins and the general destruction that normally comes with a full frontal assault on a base, the clean up crew at hunter base did a bang up job and in a short amount of time. There were no bodies left lying around, neither hunters nor Repliforce. When they got out of the car, Iris stood still looking around, her shoulders dropped and she sighed, but looked a little relieved.

She led him to an area he wasn't familiar with. He hadn't frequented Repliforce base often before the war, but had been to the command center a few times during meetings to discuss how the Maverick Hunters and Repliforce could work together to keep the Mavericks from running amuck. He thought of the first time he met Iris, her shyly hiding behind Colonel, Colonel laughing and introducing her. Him extending his hand, and her taking it so, hesitating the whole time. Then a few weeks later him finding out she was going to be working with him and X during what was now called the Erasure Incident, and their friendship would blossom.

They were standing in a grassy field. The area was barely damaged at all; the battle had clearly not spread this far. It was just behind the area that Zero believed was the training grounds for the Repliforce army. Iris began to jog forward, and Zero walked slowly following her. After a bit she stopped, and upon catching up, Zero noticed that she stopped thanks to the fact that the grass simply stopped, revealing a hell of a drop, one that he probably wouldn't even survive. Iris turned to him, a light smile on her face.

"This cliff is perfect to protect this side from any attack. Aside from an air raid, no one could climb up and get the drop on us. At least, that's what my brother said…" Her small smile remained, but her face dropped saying that. "He used to take me back here all the time, we would relax when he finished training and just look down the mountain. He would talk about politics, about what General's plans were, anything on his mind. I would just listen. I wish I had more to say to him, to help him, but he seemed happy just to have someone to talk to."

She took a few steps back, kicked the ground, and pointed. "Here's where I want to bury… him." She gripped the chip in her pocket. _NO! This is your power! You're chance for vengeance! Don't throw it away!_ She shook the voice away. She had new resolve since she recovered.

"Alright. I'll be right back with the shovels." He headed back in the direction where they came. Iris sat down where she was standing, and took the control chip out of her pocket and stared at it.

"So this is going to be goodbye, huh, brother? I'm sorry, but I can't join you… I want to live my own life now. I want to live… with him… even though he…" Her eyes began to water. "I'm sorry, but I do love him. And I love you." She expected the voice to retaliate, but it didn't. She wiped her eyes just as Zero arrived with the shovels.

"Here Iris." He handed her the shovel. "Don't exert yourself. I don't mind doing it on my own."

"No no, I insist." She struck the ground first, right where she wanted after.

After a few minutes, and a much bigger hole then was necessary for one little chip, Iris took one last look, whispered goodbye, and dropped her brother's final remains into the dirt. The two placed the dirt back over it, and patted it down. Zero took a training blade that he grabbed from the facility on his way back with the shovels, and placed it as a marker in the dirt.

Iris knelt down in front of the grave, and put her hands together in prayer for a moment. Zero just stood over her, watching. She got up, and looked straight ahead past the cliff she looked down so many times before.

"I've made up my mind."

"Hm?"

"I'm going to join the Maverick Hunters. I want to continue to help you fight." She turned towards Zero. "I don't care what happened in the past. I… I know it will always be there… but I want to be with you… I still want to be your navigator… Can I… Zero…" Her head lowered, and she looked down at her boots.

Zero sighed. He shook his head, and then patted her left shoulder. She looked up at him with sad eyes. He held her eyes for a minute, and then nodded. "No… it is me who should be asking you if you would still help me. Iris…" He extended his hand. "Would you please help me in my fight?"

She wanted to look tough, and to her credit, she was keeping Zero from seeing her tears the whole time they were here. But that was just too much, tears started to flow, and she tried desperately to make them disappear by rubbing her eyes, but it didn't work, and she realized how she must of looked. Blushing slightly, giving up on hiding the tears, she took Zero's handshake.

-/-

As they walked away from the hill and past the training grounds, a reploid whistled to himself and walked out of the shadows. He glanced at the direction the pair was walking and whistled again. "Whooaahh baby, leaving treasure in the ground just like that!" His long, sky blue hair flew behind him as he turned and walked towards the loose soil. "Grave robbin ain't my thing, but whatcha gonna do, orders are orders after all baby! Shame I'm gonna get this beautiful figure all dirty!"

He looked at his black armor and shrugged. Kneeling down, he began to use his hands as shovels to reach his treasure underneath, whistling all the while.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello there readers, been awhile, hasn't it? Sorry for the long delay, but once life comes a knocking, you start losing time to do things you enjoy, and unfortunately, life decided there wasn't going to be any peace for me. But, here I am, finally having a little bit of time to get back into this! Since this is my first time writing a bit before the chapter, I would like to thank everyone who has read my little story so far! I'm trying to hit all the genres here, got some action (which I've learned I'm just awful at writing) sappy romance, drama, and even some comedy; I'm really trying to get myself a good range of writing skills, and this is where I plan on learning it. Well, hope everyone enjoys, and of course, criticism and corrections are always welcomed!

Chapter 3:

Meet the New Boss

"Here again? It's only been a few days since your last visit buddy boy."

Zero walked in to the laboratory where the slightly agitated green mechanic sat. Silently, the crimson warrior lay himself down on one of Douglas' workbenches. He looked straight up, making only a small grunt, which the mechanic took as an order to get started soon.

Douglas walked towards where Zero lay, and scratched the back of his head letting out a small sigh. "Seriously, there's nothing new I can test. You can't get obsessed with what happened during that fight, it could have just been one of Sigma's tricks."

Only Zero's head turned slightly, giving his mechanic a malicious glance. "Are you going to do the tests, or not?"

"Geez, alright alright." He grabbed a bunch of wires, and began attaching them to Zero. "Don't you think you should talk to Lifesaver about this? Not that I hate your company or anything, but I seriously doubt this will get you anywhere, and maybe, just maybe, he'd have a better idea of why you froze up if you really believe it wasn't Sigma."

The only response was a huff. Attaching the final wires to his computer, Douglas sat down and booted up his computer. Not one to work in silence, a fact that irritated Zero when he wanted to be alone with his thoughts, the mechanic started right up again. "So… looks like it's already been decided who will take over for our wonderful ex-commander? Seems to be a pretty good guy too. Honestly though, I thought it should have been X. I mean, sure he's a little out there sometimes, but who isn't really? He has lead… "

Finally zoning him out, Zero let himself get swept away by memories of the battle against his hated nemesis.

-/-

Taking one more glance at the paper in his hands, Dr. Cain looked up and gave a nod, handing them back to the Lifesaver clone that was sitting in the chair across from his desk.

"So those were all the reploids that have passed the physical and are ready to become new Maverick Hunters huh?" Dr. Cain stroked his beard, with his eyes closed thinking for a moment. Lifesaver put the papers back on his clipboard, but otherwise remained stone faced. Dr. Cain looked at him, stood up, and looked out his window as he often did.

"Looks like things are going to be lively around here in the next few days. I hope Signas will be able to inspire these new recruits to push themselves to the fullest." Dr. Cain tapped his cane on the floor twice. "I expect there to be plenty of work for you Lifesaver, young reploids often get themselves into trouble." He turned to Lifesaver and smiled. "I also don't know how well our friend X will be able to hold back when he starts sparring with these kids." He chuckled, but predictably, Lifesaver didn't move.

"If that is all, I must go sir." With a small wave of the hand from Cain, Lifesaver was up and out of the room. Dr. Cain stared at the empty seat for a moment, then sat back down.

"One soul for so many bodies… perhaps too much for even reploids to handle."

-/-

"I'm gonna go grab something to eat, so I'll see you all in a bit for the meeting!" Grabbing her beret and waving as she entered the elevator, she saw a few waves and smiles as the door closed, and just like that, she was all alone.

She sighed and leaned against the railing. Now that she was officially working as a Maverick Hunter navigator and not simply a guest navigator from Repliforce, she felt like everything was different… and nothing, all at once. She shook her head, trying to get the contradicting emotions out of her head. At first, she was worried that the other navigators would be cold towards her. She knew that her family must have killed many of the hunters these navigators worked with day after day, and that fact alone must have lead to some ill feelings when they found out they would be working with someone from that faction. To her surprise, everyone welcomed her with open arms, and she felt no hostility from any of the navigators. Though she had to admit, it might have been in some part due to Zero that she wasn't looked down upon…

Zero… the thought made her head spin slightly. She hadn't seen him much at all lately. While the navigators didn't have much to do at the moment, being that there were no missions going on and crime was at an all time low, they were still expected to be at their posts during their shifts. And whenever she was free, Zero was either at Douglas' workshop or simply unattainable. "Could he be… avoiding me?" She said, talking to ever listening ceiling.

Walking out of the elevator, she made her way down the hall and into the lunchroom. Grabbing a plate and some food, she scanned the room to see if Zero happened to be eating at the same time. Of course not, she thought, looking a bit dejected. Though taking another quick glance at the other reploids sitting and chatting with each other in the lunchroom, she noticed a familiar blue helmet sitting alone at one of the tables. He was leaning back on his chair, big blue boots up on the table in front of him, reading a book with one hand and sipping a drink with a big "E" on the side of it. She started walking towards his table, but stopped, suddenly getting nervous about sitting alone with the blue hero. She had never actually had a conversation with him outside of with Zero. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the cafeteria for another moment, then finally built up her confidence and headed to the table. What could go wrong, worst even if they didn't exchange words at least she wasn't sitting alone and best she might even learn a bit about Zero from his best friend.

-/-

Douglas scratched the back of his head and tapped away at his computer a few more times, then shut down his computer, shaking his head. He walked over to Zero, and unplugged the wires from Zero's armor. All the while still yammering on about this new space ship or something the red warrior could care less about.

Zero got himself to his feet, and waited for the good mechanic to stop for a second, signaling that he was done digressing and would finally talk business.

"Look, Zero, you can keep coming here and we can keep doing these tests, but nothing is going to change. There is no sign of you going maverick, no corrosion to your armor or circuitry, everything is copasetic. I'm telling you, it had to have been caused by Sigma in some way shape or form."

Zero, not satisfied with that answer, gave the mechanic a hard stare. Taking a step back and sweating a little, Douglas walked to his desk and grabbed a paper and handed it to Zero.

"Look, there is one thing different about both you and X that sets you apart from all other reploids. There is a sort of black box technology in both of you…" he pointed and circled a part of the paper in Zero's hand, a gesture that meant nothing to the crimson warrior as he had no idea what he was looking at "that I can't understand at all. With your permission, of course, I would like to… try some experimental projects on it. I'm very curious if I can find out more about it. Maybe even look at X, there is a chance that they are the same… or totally different."

Zero looked the paper up and down, trying to make heads or tales of it, but simply handed it back to Douglas, nodding slightly.

"Alright buddy! Well, no time to work on it now, in only a few hours we've got to attend the inauguration speech."

-/-

"So then, I kicked her out of bed, and yelled 'You're not my mom'!"

Iris sat across from X, blushing furiously at the conclusion of his story. Her hand had been permanently placed over her mouth about a quarter into X's story, and she really couldn't believe half of the words that had come spewing out of the blue hero's mouth! This wasn't at all how she expected her lunch to go. Maybe talk about the weather for a minute, the quality of the food, how she liked being a navigator now, and maybe even what she had hoped to talk about, Zero, but not this. It all started innocently enough, once he noticed she was sitting there, he put down his book, and they exchanged greetings. Quickly enough, X started talking about the ceremony that hunter base as thrown after the first two Sigma wars. At first, she really enjoyed hearing about the different girls and how they wore dresses while the Maverick Hunters wore their armor to commemorate the victory. It all turned south when X started talking about what he did after the parties and it all turned, well X-rated.

X stopped his laughing fit for a minute and glanced at Iris. His face shifted to one of concern and he snapped his fingers. "Hey, hey, you coming down with something? I mean, goddamn, that's a real interesting color you're turning there." He leaned over the table and put his hand on Iris' forehead.

"No! X! Stop!" She swatted away his hand and looked down while X leaned back into his chair, a bit of a mischievous smile on his face. At the rate this was going, Iris had a feeling that her face would never return to its natural color. Trying to compose herself, she turned towards back towards X. "It's not that… it's just… why would you tell me a story like that?"

"Why wouldn't I? I mean, hell, we're bros!"

Iris froze immediately after he finished, trying to comprehend what X had just called her. Somehow, he struck a nerve, and Iris jumped out of her chair, and slammed her hands down on the table. "And what, may I ask, do you mean by that!"

Taken back a little bit, X took a quick glance around the room to see a few heads checking out the commotion at his table, then he turned back to Iris and motioned with his hands for her to sit back down, and she obliged. She kept her gaze at X the whole time, which he responded with a quick smile. "Well, you're Zero's girlfriend after all. He's my brother man, which means you're completely off the market for me. So, the way I see it, you're a dude to me."

Iris cocked her head to the side, letting out a small huff, and stared at the blue hero. _So this is the real X… a hero… but a complete idiot._

A few minutes passed and X went back to reading his book silently while Iris finished her meal, and began to fiddle with her hair. She knew she was going to regret it, but she wanted to talk to X more about his crimson brother, but couldn't work up the courage to start up another conversation. As if he was able to read her mind, X looked up from his book. "What? What is it? You've had this look on for some time now and it's making it hard to concentrate over here." He stopped for a moment, and then made a gesture of realization with his free hand. "Look, I know, I'm good looking, smart, charming; anyone would want me, and can tell you've fallen for me, but I could never betray my friend. It's bro code after all."

"What! No! No No! I would never! X!" She practically leapt off her seat shouting, pointing at him. Feeling eyes drilling the back of her head, she turned and saw those who were enjoying the quite of the cafeteria staring. She coughed, sat back down, and put her warm face into her hands. How could she have let X publicly embarrass herself twice now? All the while X simply smiled.

"Believe me X," she began, hands still covering her face, "I just want to learn more about Zero. I've known him for some time now, yet I feel I don't know as much about him as I should." Finally she took her hands off her face. "I mean, now that things have calmed down a bit, I haven't seen him much at all."

X folded his arms and nodded. "Yeah, Zero can be a tough nut to crack some times. Believe me I know, took me a long time to convince him that I needed him to come to those parties I told you about. Seriously, guy makes a good wingman. Bet ya wouldn't think that, would you? I mean, this one time, he…"

Turning to see Iris looking at him with a face that made him shudder a little, he stopped himself. She looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"No X, what did he do?"

Realizing what he was about to do, X thought up a quick exit to the conversation. "I can't really talk about it. Bro code." He patted his chest twice with his fist after saying it. _Smooth_, he thought proudly to himself.

What he didn't realize was that Iris was absolutely livid at this point. Hearing about Zero's possible exploits with other woman, wing manning, or whatever he was doing, had somehow struck a nerve with the girl. This whole experience with X was a mess.

She got up, and was about to leave, when suddenly, she it hit her. She smiled, and turned toward X, who had already reassumed the position he was in before she sat with him, and over dramatically pointed him.

"But X, didn't you say I was your bro!"

He sat there agape. He had been cornered with words. Iris flashed him a quick triumphant smile, and he sat back and folded his arms.

"Touché."

-/-

The great lawn set in front of the main control tower in the center of hunter base, was filled to capacity. There was not a seat unfilled, between veteran hunters, new recruits, civilians, and the media. More cameras then the eye could see were focused on the center stage set up, and all eyes had been on the new commander for some time now. After only a short introduction from Dr. Cain, Signas took the stage, and began his long, but inspiring speech, where he stopped only when the crowd would erupt into applause.

"Among many of you who I have served with before, I see many bright new faces, and it is you who I trust to protect our world in the days to come. Together, we can help keep the threat of maverick attacks…"

Iris sat in the front row between X and Zero, but wasn't paying full attention to the commander. Being between them, she couldn't help but think about the differences between the best friends. X, whom she caught nodding off a few times during the speech, was a loose cannon. He literally said whatever came to his mind, without much thought. Zero on the other hand, was almost always calm, cool, and collected. Unless he was really at a loss of what to do, he seemed like a great unbreakable wall. But she knew, the pair had one binding personality trait that kept them together. It was their desire to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, that undying sense of justice. She smiled to herself. _Brothers huh…_

"It is a great honor for me to serve as this organizations leader. I will do everything in my power to ensure the safety of all those who rely on our support. Our very future relies on our combined courage, and together, we can accomplish anything!"

-/-.

Signas stood in the middle of his new command center. He was a bit overwhelmed, he had to admit, normally he was working with a minimal staff out on the field, but now, he knew he had the entire force at his fingertips. Taking in the sights, he folded his arms, and closed his eyes, thinking about how much he hated giving speeches for the public, yet how important they actually were.

Hearing the elevator doors open, he turned slowly and saw two of his now most important players, as well as the final memory of the Repliforce. There was no backlash to speak of during his speech in regards to the Repliforce incident and no one asked what happen to the one he succeeded, but he knew all to well that eventually, that ghost would hit him. As for now, he had other concerns.

"X, Zero, and Iris, was it? Sorry to make you come all the way here on such short notice, I just wanted to speak with you for a few moments." He extended his hand, and they shook one by one, starting with X.

"So… what do you need us for chief?" X leaned himself up against one of the consoles, getting himself comfortable.

"It's no secret that the two of you are the strongest players in this organization. The three great wars and constant other missions would never have succeeded without you. I'm unsure if Dr. Cain has approached either of you yet, but we have decided that you who better then the legendary duo to teach aspiring new hunters the ropes."

"Oh yeah, I remember Dr. Cain saying that. Shouldn't be too hard to teach em, I mean, point at evil, shoot, right?"

Signas' eyebrow twitched a little, but he nodded then turned to Zero, who nodded back, and drew out his sword for effect.

"Only makes sense that I'll teach those who wish to learn close distance combat."

"Good, so we are all on the same page. Ah…" He stopped, and turned. Behind him walking towards them was a blond haired reploid, decked out in pink armor. She stood beside him for a moment with a smile, but seemed to glare at X, Iris noticed.

"This is my most trusted navigator, Alia, so I made the decision to pull her from field duty and bring her with me to work from main base."

She walked over to Zero, an extended her hand. He took it. "Pleasure to meet you." He responded with a nod. She made her way over to Iris and did the same. "And you as well." Iris smiled back at her. Then it got interesting. She walked over to X. When she got close enough, X suddenly got very pale, and started sweating. Iris couldn't believe that he suddenly looked very small even in his heavy blue armor. She extended her hand, and X shakily took it.

"Uh… nice to… Ah!" He yelped, and she let go, turned and walked away past Signas, who seemed to ignore the whole thing. Zero, seemed uncharacteristically curious about the exchange that went on, but said nothing. Iris however walked over to X who was rubbing his hand.

"X… what was that all about. Do you know her?"

He laughed nervously. "So you remember that story I told you about that girl who I kicked out of bed? Yep, her. Oh man, what did I do to deserve this?"


End file.
